Gibraltar Feburary 1, 1909

Dear Ryana,

When we first arrived in Gibraltar from a distance we saw the other US ships and then some Russian, French and Dutch warships firing salutes. Everyone on my ship thought they were engaged in a battle and that we were about to join in. I was really worried. Luckily, the closer we got, we could start to tell that they weren’t actually fighting but firing salutes. I was so relieved that we weren't going to have to fight.